Jenn Hannotte: There are two types of Craigslist thrills: when you buy something for cheap and find out it's worth a lot more, and when you find something cheap and you make it worth a lot more - even if you only slap some paint on it. My front room has tried on a couple of coffee tables in the last few months that gave me both types of 'YES!' moments.
My old coffee table was a $20 purchase that included two end tables. It's now sold since I try to follow a pretty strict 'something in, something out' regime. The shape was ornate and scalloped, and I thought that painting it with a matte finish and juxtaposing it with my otherwise modern furniture would look interesting. I used one of the end tables in my daughter's room as a side table and sold off the other at a garage sale. That's a lot of mileage out of $20! I was able to play with a trend without busting the bank, and that to me is what makes Craigslist and thrifting in general so worthwhile.
My latest find was an impulse buy - I saw it, loved it, and had to have it. I knew nothing about the coffee table, except at $150 was pretty cheap for the going rate of mid-century teak on Craigslist. Within a few hours of contacting the seller, I was on my way home with it, as well as armed with a new little bit of info: that it was manufactured by France and Son, Denmark. Off to Google and within minutes I realized I had a Peter Hvidt & Orla Mølgaard-Nielsen coffee table designed in 1955, and produced by France and Son for 2 years. Designers and manufacturer in hand - and more Googling - I discovered here that my little purchase was worth about $1000!! As you can imagine, I'm not likely to sell it any time soon - even if I could get that kind of return on my meager investment - it looks quite at home in my front room and knowing I won the 'Craigslist lottery' makes it that much more appealing!
You'll see the old scalloped coffee table and end table below, followed along by the shot from Craigslist that got me hot under the collar and, finally, the Danish table sitting pretty in the living room.
For more of Jenn's take on style click here.
